This piece is a follow-up to "
Before You Post" which recently appeared in the Ancestry
Daily News . Based upon the number of messages in my in box,
handling queries after they have been posted is just as important as
posting the query in the first place.

Maintenance is a fact of life. The following suggestions may help
you get more 'life' out of your query and increase the chance of
a fruitful response.

Check Your Mail
Did you create a separate e-mail account to use solely for genealogy
and query posting? This is fine, but make certain you check the mail
and delete unnecessary messages from the account on a regular basis.
Most of the free e-mail accounts have space limitations and those who
send you messages will get their message bounced back if your account
is full. Are you willing to risk the chance that the "big break" is
in one of those bounced messages? Delete spam from these free accounts
immediately as these messages tend to monopolize space (especially
those messages in HTML). As one who uses a free e-mail account, I
have found the filters to be reasonably effective in reducing the
amount of spam that I have to manually delete.

Update Your Address"Before you Post" mentioned the importance of tracking
query postings. This is extremely important and is necessary to appropriately
manage your queries after they have been posted. Your e-mail address
will change, frequently for reasons. When your e-mail address does
change, post the updated version as a follow-up to your original
query and include new information if known. Don't make it impossible
for people to contact you.

Check the Boards
The boards at Ancestry.com
allow the message creator to choose to receive an e-mail when a
reply has been posted to their message. This is the best way to track
responses without having to manually visit the message board periodically.
If you choose not to use this option or post where this option is not
available, check periodically for message replies. Not everyone will
e-mail you personally.

Post Updates When Available
If you are fortunate enough to answer your own query, post a follow-
up. You may wish to post an annual follow-up even if you are unable
to locate new information. There are some who may ignore "old" messages
because of the increased chance of a bounced message. Annual follow-ups
are sufficient, don't clutter the board with weekly updates when
you have no new information. Annual updates allow researchers to
contact you and to know that you are still actively searching. In cyber
space, a five-year-old e-mail address is definitely archival!

Don't Expect MiraclesHoping for a response is one thing. Expecting someone to
simply drop the answer in your lap is another matter. If the information
in your original post is incorrect (perhaps through no fault of your
own), the chance of a response is decreased. Keep researching so
you can post new information as you receive it. If you are working
on a puzzle that has stymied others for years, the answer may not
come easily, if ever. And the only responses you get may be queries on
other families of the same line, with little or no direct connection
to the individuals being researched.

Answer QueriesResponses need not be immediate, but try and answer as many
replies as you can. Even a short response indicating "no information"
is better than nothing. But you may be inundated with more e-mail
than you are able to handle. While having too many messages may seem
desirable, believe me, it's not.

Keep Researching and Learning"Naught times naught is naught" or so goes the saying.
Don't expect to quit working on your family after you post your query. You
must continue to research after the family after the query is posted.
At best you may answer your question. At worst you locate absolutely
nothing. Many times the end result lies somewhere in between. The
reality is that you may locate additional details, which could be
used to make your original query more effective. Do some research.
Learn about the area. Sitting passively and waiting is best applied
to television, not genealogy.

What Posters Should Not Expect from RespondentsQuery posters should not expect respondents to send them
an entire data file carte blanche. Personally, I think it's a bit
much to ask someone to send you their entire GEDCOM file. If the person
offers to send you their entire file, that's a different matter. (An
aside comment: If someone offers you a glass of wine, hopefully your
immediate response is not to ask for the entire bottle!) Posters should
not expect respondents to send them gratis copies of mountains of
records they might have spent years compiling. Posters should not
expect respondents to spend days doing free research. Posters should
not expect instantaneous replies. Those who respond are free to do
what is within their ability and interest. One must also remember
that some respondents have to deal with minor issues like earning
a living and dealing with living family members.

A Note to Frustrated Query ViewersIf you cannot contact a message poster, consider the following
--- The person might have died
--- The person might have lost interest in genealogy altogether
--- Life might have taken a priority over family history research

Don't forget that an individual's life might take a quick, unexpected
turn and family history might have been temporarily left behind.

Try Searching Elsewhere for the Message Poster
If your e-mail to the person bounces, consider searching for them
on a search engine such as http://www.google.com/
. If their name is common, add the main surname from their query
post to your search terms. If a Susan Jugkowski posted a query on the
Brownson family and your e-mail to her bounces, enter the phrase "Susan
Jugkowski Brownson" into a search engine. The person might have completely
forgotten about the query and changed their e-mail address in the
interim. You might have some success also posting to the various county
and state mailing lists for the areas where the poster's family lived.
Just because the person had a bounced e-mail address does not mean
they are no longer interested in family history. Maybe they simply
forgot about their original post.

Michael John Neill, is the Course I Coordinator at the Genealogical
Institute of Mid America (GIMA) held annually in Springfield, Illinois,
and is also on the faculty of Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg,
Illinois. Michael is the Web columnist for the FGS FORUM and is on
the editorial board of the Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly.
He conducts seminars and lectures on a wide variety of genealogical
and computer topics and contributes to several genealogical publications,
including Ancestry and Genealogical Computing. You
can e-mail him at: mailto:mneill@asc.csc.cc.il.us
or visit his Web site at: www.rootdig.com/
, but he regrets that he is unable to assist with personal research.